Chokeberry Topics

• eye inflammation
• liver failure
• chronic inflammation
• astringency
• fruit color
• bitter flavor
• blue food
• trichomes
• venation
• sepals
• functional food
• pome
• nutraceutical
• food source
• mucosal
• common names
• preliminary results
• colorectal
• petals

Related Images

Source

Source

Source

Chokeberry, Chokeberry

Looking for Aronia?

The two species are readily distinguished by their fruit color, from which the common names derive. The leaves are alternate, simple, and oblanceolate with crenate margins and pinnate venation; in autumn the leaves turn a bold red color. Dark trichomes are present on the upper midrib surface. The flowers are small, with 5 petals and 5 sepals, and produced in corymbs of 10-25 together. Hypanthium is urn-shaped. The fruit is a small pome, with a very astringent, bitter flavor; it is eaten by birds (birds do not taste astringency and feed on them readily), which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. The name "chokeberry" comes from the astringency of the fruits which are inedible when raw.

Accordingly, a deep blue food source such as chokeberry yields anthocyanins in high concentrations per serving, indicating potential value as a functional food or nutraceutical.

Among the models under evaluation where preliminary results show benefits of chokeberry anthocyanins are colorectal cancer (Lala et al. 2006), cardiovascular disease (Bell & Gochenaur 2006), chronic inflammation (Han et al. 2005), gastric mucosal disorders (peptic ulcer) (Valcheva-Kuzmanova et al. 2005), eye inflammation (uveitis) (Ohgami et al. 2005) and liver failure (Valcheva-Kuzmanova et al. 2004).

Source: Wikipedia > Aronia